Although farmers and pollination technicians have long recognized the economic importance of thoroughly pollinating a crop at the right time with the right pollen, they have found this difficult to achieve reliably and economically. One way to improve pollination is to dust the desired pollen onto honeybees flying to an orchard so that the bees deliver effective pollen when it is needed. U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,435,951; 2,485,879; 3,069,702; and 3,371,360 all suggest hive exit structures holding pollen that bees pick up on their way out and deliver to the orchard. Returning bees enter the hive via a different passageway that has no pollen. These devices have been cumbersome, expensive, and wasteful of valuable pollen.
I have devised a much simpler and more effective way of enpollinating a colony of honeybees with pollen intended for the blossoms being visited by the bees. My system is simple, economical, convenient, reliable, applicable to existing hives, and effective in its use of pollen.